


i found galaxies in your gaze

by g0ryllama



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Fluff, Galaxy Entity!Moomin, Human!Snufkin, I know what Snufkin is about, Introspection, M/M, Romance if you squint, vague descriptions of everything but Moomin's eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 11:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19700848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g0ryllama/pseuds/g0ryllama
Summary: In all his travels through the infinite vacuum of space, Snufkin has never seen a being as ethereal, and special, as the one before him.There's a pull, like gravity, only stronger, and Snufkin wouldn't even dare refuse.





	i found galaxies in your gaze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bearabees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearabees/gifts).



> For the lovely [teddiroo](https://teddiroo.tumblr.com) on Tumblr! 
> 
> Totally based on/inspired by [this post](https://teddiroo.tumblr.com/post/185984278787/you-arent-just-a-star-to-me-youre-my-whole-damn), and his awesome idea of a galaxy entity Moomin when I started complaining about the lack of sci-fi snufmin.

Snufkin likes to think of himself as well traveled. He's been to hundreds of different planets, solar systems and galaxies, and experienced so much more than any other human has. Maybe he'd even go so far as to say that he has met more other beings, and been in more places than anyone else.

Not that he has anyone who he could detail said travels to.

As much as he values his own company more so than anything else, it's incredibly lonely to fly through the infinite, inky expanse of space with nothing but an old ship and the meager supplies Snufkin keeps with him for emergencies. He's had one or two people ask if they could come with him (people that didn't really know him well enough to know not to ask), but how can he agree when he'd just end up tempted to drop them off at the next planet and race off without a second glance?

He travels to escape monotony. Spending every waking moment with the same person every day is the epitome of monotony. And so, Snufkin's own unchangeable sorrow is a byproduct of his own warring needs.

A warning lights up on his console, a frown working its way onto his face. Swiping the alarm up, the front window fills with text that sends his heart into a panicked frenzy.

" _Warning: imminent energy pulse, brace for impact._ " The alarm reads, the interior of his ship pulsing red, then purple, then red again. Snufkin races around, turning everything off in a hurry.

" _5… 4… 3…_ "

Once everything bar the alarm and life support system are off, he takes deep, steadying breaths and straps himself into the chair in front of the console. He's done this plenty of times; Snufkin knows his ship is sturdy enough to handle a medium level energy pulse with little trouble, but there is still a sense of danger to it that Snufkin loves.

A bright white, somewhat translucent, wave appears in his peripheral, and he can hear it before he feels it, the force of its strength straining the walls of his ship noisily.

" _2… 1… Brace._ "

It passes through the ship violently, rocking it from side to side frantically, and Snufkin realises his mistake much too late when a book flies off a shelf and hits him squarely on the head, the pain barely registering as everything fades to black.

* * *

Snufkin wakes with a start, head throbbing and panic seizing his heart. He has to assess the damage done both to his ship and his head before anything else happens, but he finds he can barely move. Sighing, finding his mind a little fuzzy, Snufkin relents to the fact that he probably has a concussion, and that he should just relax for a moment. Besides, what more could possibly happen right now? The odds of another bad thing happening are extremely low.

Everything seems to be coated in a blue-white light, but he chalks it up to the concussion, or residual pulse energy, and tries to ignore the way it feels almost too easy to fall back asleep. He mustn’t, it would be too dangerous, but he feels so calm.

Maybe just a few more minutes of slumber wouldn’t hurt…

* * *

The second time he wakes up, Snufkin feels a lot less concussed and a lot more frenzied. Damage, damage, damage. The ship must be damaged from such a strong hit, and he fully intends to sort it, but finds himself glued to his seat when his vision fixes on a… Something, outside his ship’s front window.

The blue-white glow seems to be emanating from it, filling his ship with its soothing energy, and somehow it feels almost welcoming. The something is oddly shaped (Snufkin thinks of the hippopotamus he once saw in a history documentary), but covered in white fur that seems to shift and faze between purple and blue if you don’t look too closely. Behind it is a tail, swaying gently back and forth as it stares into the ship at Snufkin with its huge eyes.

Huge, beautiful eyes, full of constellations and nebulae and stars and galaxies and everything Snufkin loves about space as a whole. They’re the same shades of blue and purple as its fur, shifting ever constantly between them, a darkness beneath the light and colour if you stare too long. He has to look away after a moment, feeling dizzy at the everlasting expanse of its eyes.

Every now and then, small wisps of blue or white scatter away from its body, soft and smooth, dissipating into the ether and leaving behind the gentle glow.

Snufkin is positively captivated. In all his travels through the infinite vacuum of space, Snufkin has never seen a being as ethereal, and special, as the one before him. It feels different, so much more so than anyone else he has ever come across before.

There's a pull, like gravity, only stronger, demanding his presence out of his ship, and Snufkin wouldn't even dare refuse. How can he, when the being somehow reassures him without speaking that everything is and will be fine?

Donning his spacesuit almost desperately, Snufkin exits the ship (this way, he can survey the damage as well as make contact with the alien so calmly watching him). What he doesn’t expect, is to find even the older dents and scratches, from way before the energy pulse hit, to be completely healed, as though his ship is brand new again. There isn’t a single mark on the whole vessel, it even looks like it’s been through a very thorough wash, not a single speck of space debris to be found.

He turns to the alien being when it appears behind him (which doesn’t shock him at all), finding he can almost see his reflection in the glassy beauty of its eyes, Snufkin's head large in his globe shaped helmet. There’s a questioning frown on its face, as its hand (paw?) points at the glass of his helmet, head tilted to the side. Snufkin wonders if it can speak, and considers inviting it into his ship before remembering that he doesn’t like having people in his home. Strange, to be so unconcerned with his own wishes.

“Do you talk?” Snufkin asks for lack of a better question, hoping it can hear him. When it stares back at him blankly, he almost facepalms before he remembers he can’t with his helmet on. Sound doesn’t travel in space. He can almost hear his older sister laughing at his idiocy, but he deserves some slack considering he’s in the presence of some kind of super powerful alien.

But then it smiles, and the glow of its eyes increases so much Snufkin has to avert his gaze lest he get blinded. “ _I do. I was wondering if you did._ ” Its voice is just as surprising as the rest of it, soft and gentle and warm to match everything else. Beneath that though, there’s a definite humour to his words, and it brings a small smile to Snufkin’s face. He doesn't want to think about how he can hear it.

"I'm not far from my destination…" He begins to explain, pointing vaguely in the direction he was headed before. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The alien floats around Snufkin, eyes searching into his very soul for a good few seconds before it nods. " _Can I enter your ship? We can talk properly then._ "

Snufkin thinks he hears excitement this time, but he feels none of the usual forebodings he gets when other people ask to enter, and maybe it's the beings influence, but he feels a lot more comfortable saying yes.

Once they're inside, and Snufkin is free from his spacesuit, he's almost immediately shocked by the smell in the air, sweet and somehow melancholic, like he's reminded of something he doesn't remember. He frowns, ignoring the way the ship seems to hum to life with an exuberance it's never had before now the creature is inside of it.

"My name is Moomintroll," the being announces, voice clearer in the small space, not quite as powerful. It's a nice voice, Snufkin decides, one he could listen to endlessly. "I've been waiting for you, Snufkin."

A cold chill runs down his spine at the relaxed way Moomintroll shatters Snufkin's sense of comfort so easily. "How… What…?"

The being only laughs, not unkindly, floating somewhere above Snufkin's shoulder as he stumbles back against the console. "Not many people travel out this way, I saw you coming. Please don't be afraid, I'm just so excited to meet someone new!"

Moomintroll's hand (it still looks like a paw) reaches out and Snufkin finds himself unable to not do the same, captivated and eased as the wisps of light begin to circle around them both.

His paw (he has toe beans, Snufkin internally exclaims) feels soft to the touch, just how one would expect such a fluffy creature to feel. But underneath that there's a warmth so different to just a feeling of temperature. It soothes Snufkin's mind, reassures him that everything is fine, and makes him comfortable once again.

* * *

They talk for a long time, about Moomintroll, about what kind of being he is, about Snufkin's ship, about everything.

"I'm not exactly fixed in one place at one time, like you are," the alien explains a little while later, eyes searching Snufkin's still as though making sure he isn't confusing him. "I exist across many times and dimensions."

Snufkin's head begins to ache as he tries to imagine what that could possibly mean, the area where the book landed earlier throbbing distantly. "So… Time isn't linear?"

"Well, not for me. For you it is," Moomintroll begins to move closer as Snufkin rubs his head to try and ease the pain, but stops as if asking for consent to do whatever it is he's thinking of doing. "I can help your head?"

Unsure what he can do to help, Snufkin nods slowly. "Okay…"

Moomintroll places his paw carefully over his hair, and the warm feeling floods him again (Snufkin knows he won't get used to it). Beneath that warmth is an odd tingling feeling, and before too long, Moomintroll moves away and the pain is gone.

Amazed, Snufkin gingerly touches his head and finds no pain at all. "How did you do that? That's amazing."

Moomintroll laughs. "I can alter things back to the way they used to be; like your ship, for example. I shouldn't do it too much though."

Something about his time not being linear sticks with Snufkin for a long time, and when they arrive at the planet he was heading for originally, it's still eating away at him. Did he know his name because for him, they've met before? Or maybe it's just that he can feel that they know each other, the same way his sweet smell feels so familiar to Snufkin, even though he's never smelled anything like it before.

He's going to slip into an existential crisis if he isn't careful.

"So… Do you see everything at once?"

"Only what I focus on," Moomintroll points at a passing building, and begins explaining how it was built with incredible detail. "It gets annoying after a while. Sometimes I just want to live in the moment with the people I'm with, but it's hard."

Snufkin understands (or at least can sympathise), and nods as he lands his ship. "Adventure, that's what you need. Something to keep you focused."

The glow inside the ship brightens, and pride fills him with the knowledge that his advice might help.

"Maybe… I could tag along with you? On your adventures?"

"I'd like that very much."

* * *

Waking up and being greeted by Moomintroll every morning feels special each time, even if this is their third human year of travelling together. There's none of that horrifying monotony Snufkin had been so afraid of, instead quite the opposite.

They've had so many adventures together, and done so many different things, and the best part is that Moomin understands him. Often, before Snufkin even realises that he needs some time alone, he'll leave to visit some of his other friends, a silent agreement that he'll return when Snufkin wants him to, unsaid but known.

And even when things feel the same, Snufkin can tell Moomin a different story about his past adventures, and any notion of similarity fades into nothing. His reactions are always so genuine and varied, it's all Snufkin could ever ask for.

They've seen so many beautiful and wonderful things, but Snufkin would always say that the most stunning thing he's ever seen is Moomintroll himself. His soft, white fur that still glows as brightly as it did when they first met. The energy that follows him like an aura of warmth and comfort and something that screams 'home' to Snufkin, who has never felt at home anywhere before.

Snufkin came to terms with his feelings a few weeks ago, laying awake and thinking of him far away, with other people. Do his eyes glow brighter when they fall on his other friends like they do whenever he looks at Snufkin? Would he fill them with warmth and 'home' the way he does here, in Snufkin's ship?

No, he'd thought then, no. Because even if that were the case, Snufkin feels like home to him too (he tells him so regularly). How his heart aches when he thinks of how his eyes glow with the light of a billion galaxies and a trillion stars and a gazillion other lifeforms, all for Snufkin.

If Snufkin's eyes were galaxies, his would never stop glowing (so it's a good thing he has normal eyes).

"You're thinking so hard I can feel it," Moomin whispers, legs swinging back and forth as they stare out over the empty abyss of space, sitting on the balcony of an observatorial craft they landed on a few hours ago. "Can I hear?"

"No," he wants to tell him, wants to admit how his heart swells every time Moomin so much as looks at him with that fond softness that makes his eyes glisten prettily, but the terror of the unknown grips him each time, reminding him that Moomintroll might hate him if he confesses. "It's silly."

Moomin's tail slips around his waist, in the companionable way it does whenever they share a quiet moment. "I like silly, Snufkin."

Snufkin smiles, turning away from everything else to look at the only thing that matters to him. Maybe he can be brave. "You feel like home to me too. And adventure, and everything in between."

His alien smiles brightly too, snout pressing against his cheek in the way he's only ever done with his mother before, and Snufkin decides he'd be happy to never see another star or galaxy again. He doesn't need to, when he's found all the galaxies he could ever want in Moomintroll's gaze.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! It's not the most fluffy thing, and it's certainly not the most fleshed out idea ever written, and I could've gone on for hours about it but I wanted to get it out so I hope it's okay.
> 
> Also I hope it doesn't feel too rushed, or confusing.
> 
> 💞💚


End file.
